


Tell Me Everything

by reclaiming_erebor



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Meetings, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, Merry and Pippin are only in the background though, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-10-12 18:17:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10496790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reclaiming_erebor/pseuds/reclaiming_erebor
Summary: Frodo's starting school and Bilbo meets his new friends, but he can't help but notice the man with them.





	

“Come on, Frodo, we’re going to be late!” Bilbo called up the stairs. “You don’t want to be late on your first day of school, do you?”

Only a few seconds passed before a small boy came dashing down the flight of stairs. Curly ringlets of Frodo’s dark hair flew through the air, his stomps crescendoing until he reached his uncle at the bottom. He had a small backpack slung over one shoulder. It was clear by the way he was clutching it that it had been thrown on in a rush.

Bilbo took a step to his nephew and, wrapping one arm around the boy’s shoulders, guided him to the door, opening it with his free hand. “Let’s go,” he murmured as the two stepped outside. It was a clear day, the sun shining onto the ground, the sky a vibrant blue. Bilbo was going to walk with Frodo to school, which was only a few blocks away from their house. The exercise would be good for both of them.

Once out the door, Frodo released himself from Bilbo’s grip and skipped down the steps.

“Don’t go too far ahead,” Bilbo yelled to the boy as he dashed to the sidewalk. It was then that Frodo stopped. He pulled the other strap of his backpack onto his other shoulder as he waited for Bilbo to catch up. Bilbo stepped out onto the porch, making his way to the sidewalk where his nephew stood. Then, they began to walk. Frodo never strayed too far from his Bilbo, but he was always a few steps ahead, skipping eagerly, as they walked to school. Bilbo was happy to see Frodo so enthusiastic about starting school. Just a week earlier, Frodo had been extremely nervous about starting school, and Bilbo had to reassure him that it wouldn’t be so bad.

_“Mr. Gandalf works at the school. He’ll be there if you need him.” Bilbo had told Frodo, remembering how supportive Gandalf had been when Bilbo took Frodo in after his parents died in an accident._

_“Will he be my teacher?” Frodo asked, his eyes widening with anticipation._

_“Er, no. You see, he’s the principal. The person in charge of everyone else. But you won’t be going through this alone. Merry and Pippin will be going there, too.” Frodo had calmed down once he found out his friends would also be at school with him._

Bilbo caught up to Frodo once they had to cross the street, grabbing Frodo’s hand as they crossed the street. Bilbo didn’t let go of Frodo’s hand once they were back on the sidewalk. He held it for the rest of the walk to school. They had to cross two more streets before they reached a large, white building: the school. Before the building was a large lawn with a sign. The school’s name was inscribed on the sign in bold, brown letters. They crossed the lawn, passing the sign, and walked up toward the entrance. They stopped several feet away from the front doors, out of the way of everyone else. Parents stood closer to the doors as they waved their young students goodbye.

Frodo looked around, as if he were studying everyone’s faces. Bilbo assumed that he was looking for Merry and Pippin. They would show up at some point, if they weren’t already there, but he didn’t say that to Frodo. Something else had caught Bilbo’s attention.

A few feet ahead, Bilbo saw a man kneeling in front of two boys. The younger of the two looked to be about Frodo’s age. From what Bilbo could see, the man looked a little frustrated with the boys. They must have been reluctant to start the new school year. But the man was still quite handsome, and Bilbo had to force himself not to stare so obviously. The man had a dark beard and long hair that fell in an array of waves around his shoulders.

“Uncle!” Bilbo nearly jumped at the sound of Frodo’s voice. He turned to his nephew. He had zoned out obviously enough for Frodo to notice, but it seemed that Frodo did not notice the man.

“Go on, go inside,” Bilbo said. “You know where your classroom is, don’t you? I bet Merry and Pippin are already there. Go on!”

“Bye!” Frodo squeaked, turning toward the school building.

“Have a good first day!” Bilbo waved to Frodo as the little boy ran up the steps, where he disappeared into the wave of students also entering the building.

Once Frodo was out of sight, Bilbo looked around for the other man, but he was already gone. Bilbo turned away from the school and began to re-trace the steps he took with Frodo. He didn’t let his thoughts dwell on the other man for even a second.

The walk home was quite peaceful. Bilbo managed to tune out the flurry of thoughts about the man for most of the walk, instead trying to think about how Frodo was doing, but eventually they became more and more bothersome, and he stopped trying to avoid it.

_He’s probably married and he’s just taking his kids to school, just like what a regular father does,_ Bilbo told himself as he reached his house, making an attempt to shut the thoughts out for good. _There’s no point in wasting your time thinking about him when you have no chance, right?_

***

Without Frodo to look after, Bilbo spent most of his day locked up in his study, where he wrote his stories and looked over his maps, the ones he had studied meticulously time after time. He left the room whenever he started to feel peckish, which was once every couple of hours. It was a good excuse to take a break from his work. There were few things he enjoyed as much as sitting down to a nice meal to calm down. This routine stabilized Bilbo’s mind and eased his thoughts.

Bilbo was sorting through his maps, which were all sprawled across his desk, when he looked up at the clock and realized Frodo would be getting out of school in less than an hour. He wanted to meet Frodo at school to walk him home. He rose from his desk and, leaving his maps still in a mess on the desk, walked out of the study and headed to the front door.

He walked to the school at a slow, leisurely pace. He left a little while before the students would be dismissed, so he could meet Frodo as soon as the little boy was out of the school building, and not have to rush over to the school. He wondered how the first day had gone. Hopefully it wasn’t bad like Frodo had worried it would be.

Bilbo reached the school and, checking his watch, discovered that there was only a minute before the final bell would ring and the children would be swarming out of the school’s front door. He stood in roughly the same spot as he had that morning when he dropped Frodo off.

Bilbo looked around the vicinity as he waited—he noticed there were a lot of trees planted on the school grounds—as a humming tone sounded: the final bell. Bilbo’s eyes darted toward the school’s front doors, which swung open as a swarm of children—most of the ones Bilbo could see looked older than Frodo—filed out of the building. It appeared to be a never-ending pool of children, until Bilbo spotted Frodo’s bright blue eyes in the midst of the crowd. Once out of the doors, Frodo separated from the other children and ran to his uncle.

“How was your first day?” Bilbo asked, not moving from the spot in which he stood.

“It was great!” Frodo responded, beaming. His eyes were fixated up at his uncle.

Bilbo smiled. “How was it? Did anything exciting happen? Did Merry and Pippin stay out of trouble, like their parents told them to?”

“They haven’t gotten into trouble _yet_ ,” Frodo answered in a reassuring voice that made Bilbo laugh, “but we did make some new friends.” He didn’t elaborate, but instead turned his head toward the front doors of the school. Bilbo followed Frodo’s eyes to two boys who were descending the stairs. They appeared to be heading toward Frodo. Bilbo thought they looked familiar, and then he realized that they were the man’s two kids.

“You must be Mister Boggins!” The younger of the two boys said to Bilbo once they reached Bilbo and Frodo. “Frodo here has told us about you.” He placed his hand on Frodo’s shoulder, and Frodo laughed along with the boy. “I’m Kíli, by the way,” he added. “And this is my brother, Fíli.” He motioned to the taller boy. Fíli had blond hair in contrast to Kíli’s head of dark hair.

Bilbo was about to speak, but suddenly Fíli and Kíli said, “At your service,” simultaneously and bowed at Bilbo’s feet. Bilbo didn’t know what to say after that. If these boys were here, then surely…

“Fíli? Kíli?”

Bilbo spun around. The man was standing close behind him. Close enough to notice how tall he was. He was at least a head taller than Bilbo. Not only was he large in his height, but he appeared very muscular. Bilbo knew he was small, but this man was just big.

Bilbo was blushing hard, and he knew it, but he couldn’t find any words to say. Fortunately, Fíli spoke for him.

“This is our new friend, Frodo,” Fíli said, “and this is his uncle, Bilbo. Frodo’s in Kíli’s class.”

“Along with our new friends, Merry and Pippin!” Kíli piped in. “Merry and Pippin are cousins, actually.”

“Can you believe that two cousins would be in the same class, Uncle?” Fíli asked, his gaze turned to the man.

_Uncle?_

The man smiled, his face loosening, losing its intimidating glare. He was laughing. It was a hearty, full laugh. Bilbo released the breath he had been holding.

“I’m Thorin, by the way,” the man said, extending his hand to Bilbo. “Thorin Durin.”

Bilbo paused, and then took the man’s hand. “Bilbo. Bilbo Baggins.” He smiled as the man— _Thorin,_ he reminded himself—squeezed his hand into a tight handshake.

Thorin released Bilbo’s hand after a short moment. “We should probably get going,” Thorin said, his light eyes moving toward Fíli and Kíli, who were busily talking with Frodo in hushed whispers. “I’m sure your mother will be expecting you home soon.”

Fíli and Kíli both groaned, but walked over to Thorin without putting up much of a fight. Thorin flashed a glance at Bilbo that said “sorry” as they walked toward the parking lot, which was not in the direction that Bilbo and Frodo were going to walk.

“Let’s go,” Bilbo said to Frodo. Taking his nephew’s hand, Bilbo led the boy up the sidewalk. They walked back to their house the same way they came that morning. Neither of them spoke, but Bilbo’s mind drifted to Thorin.

_So he’s their uncle,_ Bilbo thought, mulling over the situation. So maybe he did have a chance, after all.

That night, Frodo recounted his first day of school to his uncle over dinner. Frodo didn’t seem to leave out any details about the day. Bilbo was satisfied with the conversation, glad that Frodo was enjoying school and adjusting well to the change.

***

The following morning was similar to the previous morning. This time, though, Bilbo knew to hurry Frodo along a little bit through his morning routine so they wouldn’t have to rush to school and worry about being late.

As uncle and nephew walked to school, Frodo showed much of the same enthusiasm as he did the previous day. With his backpack secured around both shoulders, he skipped down the steps of the front porch, out to the sidewalk, but he let Bilbo take his hand once he joined the boy on the sidewalk.

And just like the previous day, Bilbo spotted Thorin standing outside the school entrance with Fíli and Kíli at his feet. This time, however, the boys looked less rowdy. Instead of going inside, they spotted Frodo across the path and ran toward him. Frodo was ecstatic.

Thorin followed behind Fíli and Kíli at a slower pace, ignoring Frodo and heading straight towards Bilbo.

“Good morning,” said Thorin.

“Good morning,” Bilbo replied, unable to keep himself from smiling. “I see Fíli and Kíli are a little more cooperative today.”

Thorin laughed. It was that same hearty laugh as before. It gave Bilbo chills. “If you say so. Those two are always up to something.”

“Hey, Merry! Hey, Pippin!” Out of the corner of his eye, Bilbo spotted Merry and Pippin running up to the other boys, their backpacks bouncing to the rhythm of their steps. Greetings were exchanged as all the boys huddled into a circle, their voices turning softer.

Bilbo and Thorin looked at each other and grinned as the boys eagerly chatted among themselves, but Bilbo broke eye contact after a moment. He wasn’t entirely sure what to say. After several minutes passed, Bilbo checked his watch. “You boys should be heading inside soon,” he told them. “You don’t want to be late.”

Fíli and Kíli didn’t respond to Bilbo right away, but Frodo nodded, and then they followed Frodo up into the school. Merry and Pippin tailed after a second later.

Thorin stayed standing next to Bilbo, even after Fíli and Kíli disappeared. However, Bilbo and Thorin were unable to have a conversation, for the vicinity was suddenly crowded and noisy. It was the noise of the parents and kids who didn’t show up until the last minute. And then the first bell of the day finally rang. School had officially begun. Gone were the parents frantically driving up to the drop-off circle just a few feet away from the entrance. Gone were the students scrambling toward the front doors of the school. Now it was just Bilbo and Thorin standing outside. Just the two of them, alone.

They said nothing for a few more seconds, and then Thorin cleared his throat awkwardly, finally breaking the silence. “I have to be at work soon,” he said, “but I’m going to come back to get Fíli and Kíli. I’m assuming you’ll be here to get Frodo, too.” Bilbo nodded. “We should come a little earlier, say, ten or fifteen minutes before school lets out, so we can talk then.”

Bilbo nodded again. “Alright,” he attempted, his throat dry. Why was he so nervous around Thorin? He forced himself to swallow, disregarding the lump in his throat, and then he continued, “I’ll see you then, Thorin.”

“Great,” Thorin replied, smiling. They stood there smiling for a moment before Thorin turned away from Bilbo and began for the parking lot, where he presumably had parked his car. He didn’t say another word to Bilbo.

Without another glance in Thorin’s direction, Bilbo started up the sidewalk, ready to head straight back home.

***

Bilbo spent the morning poring over his maps again, but after he ate lunch he decided to take a stroll around the neighborhood. He was starting to get restless sitting inside. He was getting anxious, thinking about meeting Thorin later.

The walk soothed Bilbo’s nerves. He was absorbed by the scenery: well-kept lawns, with trees growing here and there. At the end of the street, there was a small park that was like a large garden, open to the public. It was Bilbo’s favorite place to go.

He strolled through the park with his hands in the pockets of his jacket, one of them gripping the small gold ring he kept on him at all times. He looked around, enjoying the flowers and the plants that bordered the well-defined path. He didn’t check his watch until after he was walking out of the park. It would take at least ten minutes longer to walk to the school from the park, so he decided to set off for the school right away. He didn’t want to have to hurry over to the school to meet Thorin.

When Bilbo finally reached the school, Thorin was already there. He had seated himself on a bench underneath one of the trees on the lawn. Bilbo was surprised that he hadn’t noticed the bench before, for it was painted in a variety of bright colors, all of which were organized into a neat rainbow-like array.

“Hello,” Bilbo said, seating himself next to Thorin on the bench. He tried to ignore the burst of color coming from the bench in his peripheral vision. It was rather distracting.

“I’m glad you came,” Thorin said, grinning, as he pulled a piece of paper out of the pocket of his jeans—jeans that fit really well, Bilbo noticed. He handed the paper to Bilbo, his grin still plastered onto his face.

Bilbo unfolded the scrap and saw a string of numbers scrawled onto it in messy handwriting. _A phone number._ Bilbo blushed as he turned his head toward Thorin.

“If you ever, um, want to hang out,” Thorin said before clearing his throat. “Or if, you know, our nephews want to have a playdate sometime. They seem to get along well, don’t they?”

Bilbo and Thorin smiled at each other, in silence, for at least a minute. They didn’t need words to express the mutual feeling between them.

Bilbo’s eyes shot back down to the paper as he read the numbers over again. He didn’t know why he did it—it wasn’t like he was trying to commit it to memory—but it felt so reassuring to see them written down. To know that he was holding it in his hands. When he looked back up at Thorin, the familiar hum of the school bell filled the air. Both men stood and, together, walked toward the front doors of the school, where they waited for Frodo, Fíli, and Kíli to spill out of the building. 


End file.
